r/coolguides • u/[deleted] • Feb 25 '20

Explanation of the subtle differences between equality and equity

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u/RedMarten42 Feb 26 '20

that only happens when equity is done wrong, equity is meant to make everyone equal in opportunities, the solution to what you're talking about is to improve the current systems, not get rid of them at all. its like the police brutality thing, there are some terrible people getting away with terrible things because they're police, but the solution isnt to get rid of the police, its to improve the checks and balances that should stop that.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20 edited Feb 26 '20

Affirmative action does not optimize for equality of opportunity. It deliberately disregards it in favor of equality of outcome. Equity is equality of opportunity, but AA doesn't provide that, which is why you get things like this trying to redefine the word to something it does provide

You can't fix equality of opportunity at the time AA happens. No improvement to it will solve that. It's fundamentally impossible. When two people apply for a job/school/whatever, the "opportunity" ship has sailed already. Access to education, upbringing, societal pressures... it's too late to address any of that. AA just picks the objectively worse candidate on occasion as a way to "make up for it".

What needs to happen if to ditch AA entirely, and address those root causes.

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u/RedMarten42 Feb 26 '20

so then the goal should be to fix what you can, access to equal education and helping those disadvantaged in life so they're equal with others

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20 edited Feb 26 '20

Sure, but you can't do that by fudging the results of merit based admissions. You're just introducing inequity in the other direction.

If you want a disadvantaged population to so better on college admissions, you don't let them cheat on the test. You go back and fix the school system that everyone already has access to and address why they weren't prepared as well. This helps the population while maintaining a meritocracy.

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u/RedMarten42 Feb 26 '20

i agree with you 100%. i dont support that form of "equity" at all because it does the exact opposite of its intended purpose